Mayday
by uchiha.s
Summary: AU Her father's private jet goes down and Sakura Haruno finds herself stuck in the wilderness with her gorgeous but sulky bodyguard, Sasuke Uchiha. Will love blossom or will they kill each other first? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oh god. Yes. I know. I know I really shouldn't be starting a new fic when JWIN and the epilogue to Epic Quest are calling. But plotbunnies... you know how they can be. Rabid, I tell you! Rabid! Ah well. The rating will prob go up although I'm not sure yet. Must read that guidelines thing for ratings... haha I've never actually read it. Oh well. I hope this fic is slightly humorous because obviously dark, angsty sasusakus don't suit me, not that much anyway. I'll leave that stuff to superb authors like roomfishing. And those other angsty sasusaku writers. There are so many of them now. Sorry, but I just don't seem them as an angsty couple. I mean individually obviously Sasuke is the king of angst but... I dunno. Together I seem them as being light and fluffy and happy. It's just getting there that's difficult.

Uh, right. Anywhoo, enjoy the fic.

Disclaimer: Hm, right. I'm a blonde-haired, blue-eyed teenager in america who started a world-famous ninja comic several years ago. Riiiight.

Summary[AU The private jet of diplomat Haruno Shinji, carrying his daughter and her newest bodyguard, goes down and the two are stuck in the middle of nowhere. Will the two survive the wilderness or kill each other first?

"You've gotta have a death wish or something to be taking this job! Do you have _any _idea how many freaks are after Haruno and his daughter!? They're like flies on shit!" Naruto ranted in between mouthfuls of instant ramen. Sasuke, Naruto's lifelong best friend (although sometimes it was more of a one-sided deal) and current roommate shrugged as he loaded his glock at the kitchen table. The lightbulb hanging on a cord from the ceiling cast an unhappy pallid glow around the kitchen. Such was the theme for the entirety of the small flat, which held worn, drab pieces of furniture that the two men acquired through either mistake or trashpicking.

"It's good money." The taller, darker man responded simply. He was not one for talk, whereas Naruto was the kind of person who seemed to have never met a word he didn't like. Naruto rolled his cerulean eyes at his taciturn friend and tossed the now empty bowl into the sink, where it clattered amongst many similarly used empty bowls. Sasuke barely acknowledged the blonde's actions as he pulled out a knife and began sharpening it, totally focused on the activity.

"You just want an excuse to be violent, bastard. If you die on the job what am I supposed to do for rent?" He half-joked, drinking milk straight out of the carton. Sasuke glanced up but didn't bother with an answer. Naruto needed to finally get a permanent job anyway. The blonde's inability to keep a job for more than two months was due to his disastrous lack of social grace and incapability to...well, not be so 'exuberant'. As it were, he usually ended up in one or two day gigs requiring beefy men with biceps bigger than their brains, which seemed to suit him just fine. Sasuke also ended up in jobs of the more physical variety, but had always keenly felt his intelligence wasting away. He'd been a top student at one of the finest prep schools in Konoha, but then...

He abruptly dropped the knife as well as his train of thought when he heard Naruto turn on the evening news. A female news anchor with brunette hair twisted into buns was recounting some event today, and Sasuke watched as a clip of his newest charge, Haruno Sakura, fuzzed into focus. She was accepting some award from her school, a fancy private all-girls academy, for science.

"Brainy, hunh. Not too bad-looking. Nothing special, I mean the pink is weird, but not horrible. She looks like a good enough kid." Naruto reasoned, scratching his stubbly chin as he studied the young girl. She was two years younger than the two men and therefore just barely legal. How typical of Naruto. Sasuke snorted.

"Of course you'd say that, idiot." He scoffed, resuming his knife-sharpening. He pushed Naruto's musings out of his mind, intent on focusing and preparing himself mentally for the long day he'd have the next day, when he finally met this Haruno Shinji, an ambassador from Konoha, and his brilliant daughter, Sakura.

--

"The flight won't be too bad. It's only three hours or so and it's not like you have to deal with other people. Just study or something."

Sakura twisted the phone cord anxiously; she'd never flown before. Normally, traveling without her father was par for the course. She had spent most of her childhood away from her father and mother, and had gotten accustomed to relying on her own wits. People may have called her spoiled and privileged in excess but Sakura was more independent than her position as a diplomat's daughter and her attitude let on.

But flying was new for her. In most cases she welcomed a new test for her self-reliance but she'd seen too many films of flight gone wrong to altogether trust planes.

"Sure, dad. I'm sure I'll be more than fine." She said softly into the receiver as she gazed out the large windows, overlooking one of her father's many estates. Because her father was forced into life-threatening situations practically by the hour, she knew it was pointless to expect comfort from him. But sometimes she wished they could just have a normal relationship, one where she still acted like a teenaged daughter. She felt more like a grown woman, and had since she was ten or so. They had long ago lost the kind of dynamic typical to father-daughter relationships and now were no more than business partners. Sakura longed to be close to someone.

"I won't be able to meet you when you get here. Your bodyguard will escort you to the embassy. See you then."

The phone clicked as her father hung up and Sakura sighed, flopping backwards onto her big bed, bouncing with the movement. Her mind drifted to the thought of her new bodyguard. She idly wondered if this one would be deranged, too. The last one had been obsessed with puppets, of all things. He'd been close to her age but they'd been worlds apart in terms of maturity. Sakura found this to be a problem with most people her age. She'd grown up too fast and had never had the chance to be a silly teenage girl, though she knew if she'd been given the chance she would've been just as idiotic as any of the rich girls at her prep school. Sadly chance had given her a big brain and a position in society that didn't allot time for such things. She wished she could meet someone her age who had missed out on childhood too.

"Haruno-san."

She shot up in bed, her heart pounding.

"Y-yes?" Her face reddened as she stammered, looking at the door. Usually people had the decency to knock! Already she didn't like whoever this asshole-

Oh god. Her jaw dropped and she snapped it shut quickly, wiping away an embarrassing bit of drool at the corner of her mouth. Was it possible for someone to be this good-looking? Was she dreaming? She had to be. What was probably the most gorgeous, drop-dead handsome man she had ever been interrupted by was currently giving her a deeply hassled and cross look. He was tall, with mussed black hair and dark eyes and a smooth complexion. It was like someone straight from a romance novel, she thought, stifling a giggle.

"Are you done staring yet? Your flight's soon." He had a deep voice, but the sexy effect was canceled out by the irritated tone of his voice. Sakura felt a prickle of anger inside. She had no patience for rude, arrogant assholes, and she hadn't spent five minutes in this man's company and already she could tell he was one of those in the worst way. Fortunately her own pride and maturity took over this time. With a carefully composed countenance, she met his coal eyes with a confidence that belied the writhing anger threatening to grow inside of her.

"You must be my bodyguard?" She asked, her pleasant tuneful voice ringing throughout the cold room.

"Obviously. Who else would I be? I was told you were smart. Let's get going." He turned on his heel and left a boiling Sakura. How dare he question her intelligence? _He_ was the dumb brute that had gotten such a mindless, shitty job as a bodyguard.

With quickly inflating dread and fury, Sakura picked up her pink designer suitcase. This was going to be a _long_ flight.

--

Sasuke stormed down the stairs to the foyer of the impossibly huge mansion. He'd grown up in a mansion but it still shocked him to be here. The place must have had at least fifteen bedrooms. At least. And it was no surprise that Haruno Sakura was a silly little privileged twit who, like every other girl that had ever laid eyes on him, had gazed like a deer in the headlights at him, spit dribbling down their chins. An annoying and unfortunate side effect of being the son of the late supermodel, Uchiha Mikoto. His chest tightened at the thought of his mother, but her memory was forced to the edge of his mind as he heard that irritating pink-haired girl thundering down the main staircase behind him. He turned and exhaled, trying to not lose his temper just yet. Sakura was glaring at him with startlingly green eyes that at the moment looked like pools of venom and he noted that even though she was not in school, she was still wearing her red school uniform. What a weird girl.

"Normal people have the decency to _knock!_" She hissed as she pushed past him and shoved her prissy suitcase at the butler. Sasuke clenched his fist around the strap of his simple duffel. This was going to be a long fucking flight.

--

And why did she even _need_ a bodyguard for a private jet flight? Sakura huffed as she sent a sidelong hatred-filled glance at her bodyguard, who was currently slumped in his seat, looking out the window. He could probably freeze the countryside flying by with such an icy stare. Unfortunately she was also forced to acknowledge how handsome he was. Dammit. Another point for him. She hated losing.

What was his name, anyway? Probably a sexy name, to match his sexy exterior. Too bad he was nothing but a rude, self-serving asshole. He'd probably let her get shot or something and just say "oops!" Ugh! She let out a small squeal of anger and turned to look outside to try and quell her anger.

The rational side of her remembered that she'd probably be spending awhile with this man and should probably offer a proverbial olive branch to the deranged hottie. She sighed and turned back to him.

"So... you never told me your name anyway." It was meant to be cheerful but fell flat. She shifted and tugged at the seatbelt that was digging into her neck.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I already know your name so don't bother introducing yourself." He sneered and the stony expression returned to his handsome face as he turned back to the window. Sakura gawked at him. How could anyone possibly be so rude without remorse? She'd met plenty of rude assholes in her life, but never to this degree. She must've gotten accustomed to her friend Hinata's discomfited attitude. She exhaled. Well, she'd always enjoyed a challenge in a sick, twisted sort of way. The corner of her mouth lifted. She'd view this as an intellectual pursuit to pass the time.

"Hm.. That sounds familiar... OH! Any relation to that model, Uchiha Mikoto? She died like ten years ago right? I remember my friend Ino was devastated. Mikoto was like, her role model." Sakura said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. She'd seen countless pictures of the gorgeous woman taped and tacked to Ino's bedroom wall and remembered that Uchiha Mikoto was impossibly beautiful, with long, thick dark hair and an aristocratic nose to match her strong features. She glanced at Sasuke and saw that his expression was livid. What had she done now?

"Never, _ever_ speak of her. Ever again."

Sakura's eyes widened in fear at his eyes, narrowed, and his fists clenched in anger. Muscles in his forearms and biceps that she hadn't known were _that_ developed tightened as he leaned forward, towards her. For the first time, Sakura realized how much Sasuke resembled Mikoto, with his smooth lips and square jaw. He was classically handsome, with a trace of something exotic that Sakura couldn't pinpoint on one feature. Of course the acidic expression detracted from the overall effect.

She bit her lip and looked away. She heard the rustling of his jeans as he moved to sit back in his seat, and after a few minutes she dared to look at him. He was back to glaring at the scenery, his wiry arms folded across his chest. In that position, he strongly resembled a sulky little kid. Sakura fought back a laugh. What a strange guy.

An hour of strained silence passed by until they finally reached their destination.

"Looks like we're here."

Another nice part of having a father with a private jet and runway was avoiding waiting in long lines and trying to get a decent seat on the plane. In no time they were boarding the plane.

Sasuke, after disinterestedly checking the jet for bombs and other devices, allowed her to sit down and took his own seat at the other end, next to the window. After fussing with the overly complicated seatbelt strap, she shot him an evil glare and pulled out her biology textbook. If nothing else went well in her life, at least she'd ace that midterm.

"First time flying?" Sakura asked sympathetically when she saw Sasuke fidgeting with a pocketknife while refusing to look outside as they took off. He looked up and gave her his usual glare, which was quickly losing its effect on her. She smirked and went back to reading her textbook, although she already knew all of it.

"Oh shit... turbulence... fuck! I can't see anything!"

Muffled curses from the cockpit as well as the lights in the jet going out shook Sakura from her studying and she looked up, frozen into her seat. The jet shook and rumbled. Sakura gulped, looking out her window at the dark surroundings. Of course the first time she flew had to be the time when the jet went down. She realized with a sting that this was the end of her short and depressing life. She turned around to look back at her bodyguard who had jumped up and was making his way towards her with a parachute pack, when suddenly a lighting fixture was ripped off the ceiling by the violence of the plane's shaking and knocked him out instantly. One of Sakura's caretakers yanked off her sleeping mask in anger but paled at the darkened jet and the bleeding man on the floor.

"What the hell is going on-"

black.

--


	2. Chapter 2

Mayday

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Naruto. I'm just playing with the characters much like I played with action figures and barbies as a child (yes, I was the freak who played barbie-ninjas in the corner of the playground as a little kid).

Author's note is at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Two

The scent of burning rubber filled Sakura's nose and she sneezed before blearily opening her eyes. Almost immediately, she wished she hadn't.

Sitting up slowly, she held a hand to her pounding head and squinted in the harsh sunlight, scanning the scenery. She had a few thin blankets, some partially burnt, wrapped around her loosely, but despite these she still shivered, bringing her hands up to her upper arms and rubbing them, hunching over as the wind blew.

She was in a clearing of some sort, with black trees that stretched towards a harsh blue cloudless sky. In the distance she could see mountains, their outline unforgiving.

Following the nidorous scent on wobbly legs, Sakura peeked around a large set of boulders and gasped.

Memories of the moments before the crash returned at full blast. Her father's private jet was burning away, right before her eyes. But it looked like at this point the flames were dying down; not much of the plane itself was left. Ashes and darkened ground surrounded the aircraft.

"You're awake."

Sakura froze and turned slowly, still hanging onto the boulder for support. It was Sasuke, her bodyguard. His cheeks were smudged and cut and his clothes were burnt and ripped. Sakura looked down and realized her own clothes were in a similar condition. That the only damage to her body was ruined clothes put Sakura into an even greater state of shock. How the hell had she survived? Had everyone survived?

"Am I dead?" She asked slowly, leaning fully against the boulder. Sasuke's face twisted into an irritated grimace.

"Of course not." He snapped impatiently, turning around and walking back to what seemed to be a crudely put together campsite. There was a tent, which was constructed by draping one of the cheap blankets that Sakura now recognized from the jet over a low-hanging branch. Nearby was the pile of blankets that Sakura had been wrapped in. "And yes, we're the only survivors. I got the blankets just in time but everyone else was already dead."

The nonchalance of his speech stunned Sakura, and she weakly sat down, putting her head in her hands. Everything was spinning out of control. To her, it seemed just a moment ago that she'd been sitting on the plane, studying. Now all of a sudden she was one of two survivors of a plane crash, in the middle of nowhere, with her only companion being an antisocial, disturbingly good-looking freak who was now firing his gun at birds circling above.

This could not be happening.

Sure, she'd wished for a little more excitement in her boring, lonely life. But this was over the top. _Way_ over the top. Not even soap opera writers would do this to their characters. This wasn't fun excitement. This sucked.

She snapped out of her inner ranting when she realized her bodyguard had finally managed to shoot a bird. It came zooming down to earth, and Sasuke caught it with one hand, a satisfied smirk on his face. The bird's blood dribbled down his hands and dripped onto the ground. Sakura stared on with her mouth hanging open.

Scratch antisocial disturbingly good-looking freak. Demented serial killer was more fitting.

Sakura shuddered but gathered her wits about her. "H-how long have I been out?" She choked, sounding much less confident than she had intended.

"A day and a half. Stop pestering me." Sasuke called back as he piled sticks into a small pit. He picked one up and jogged to the burning plane and lit the stick from the dying flames. She watched him light the pit and start cooking the bird. She quirked an eyebrow. Did this weirdo have a lot of experience in camping out in the middle of nowhere, using a flaming private jet as a means for survival? She let out a small squeal. _Had he brought the jet down?_ Oh god. He was going to kill her now. He was going to first poison her with that bird, then as he watched her writhe on the ground in agony, he was going to (with the same smirk he'd had when he'd shot the bird) stab her, repeatedly, in non-fatal places, with a sharp piece of the burning jet, and the flames would cauterize the wounds, and then as she bled internally to death, her mouth foaming because of the poison coursing through her veins, he would--

she stopped herself. She was getting out of control here.

At any rate, it was pretty obvious he knew a thing or two about surviving in the wild. That was normal enough, right? Right.

She watched as he intently sawed off the bird's head with a pocket knife. Never mind. Normal enough was too much to hope for.

Timidly, she wobbled over to him. She still felt dizzy and sick to her stomach, but the OCD-ridden anal retentive perfectionist in her wouldn't rest until she knew all of the details of the accident. If he wanted to kill her, so be it, but come hell or high water she was going to know about it, dammit!

"Excuse me, but-"

"I told you to stop pestering me, didn't I? I don't know anything about the accident either. I only woke up a little while before you did." He glowered at her and then returned to cooking the bird. She watched as he paused and turned his glower at the bird, partially decapitated and beginning to look a tad crispy. He turned to her, looking impatient and a little helpless. "You're a woman. You know about things like cooking. What am I supposed to do with this?" He snarled, but Sakura realized that his attitude was because he was _embarrassed._ It was sort of cute, in a demented-serial-killer sort of way.

She shrugged. "I never cook for myself. I wouldn't know. Too bad we don't have my father's chef, Chouji, here. He'd be able to whip up something _amazing. _...On second thought, he'd probably eat it all himself anyway."

Sasuke swore a string of curses that would've made even the most crude person wince. He dropped the bird on the ground and stormed off, leaving Sakura to stare confusedly after him. Was it something she'd said?

"Sasuke... come back. We can always try again." She called weakly, feeling a bit like a babysitter at the moment. Wasn't he older and supposed to be more mature than her?

When there was no response, Sakura sighed and turned to survey the clearing. She plopped down on her pile of blankets. If there was one thing she was good at, it was thinking. And clearly, this situation warranted a good bit of that. She tapped her chin and furrowed her eyebrows. What did she know, if anything, about surviving in the wild?

Well, there were always the basic needs, like food and water. She recalled hearing something about the rule of three... what was it? She squinted. She'd heard it on some television show she'd watched on the science channel... And yes, she was just nerdy like that.

Oh! That's right, she thought, grinning triumphantly. She almost jumped up and did a victory dance, but she wanted to be the sane one of the two. At any rate, now she remembered. A person could go three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Well, at least they had the shelter part down pat. The next main concern was water. If she'd been out for approximately a day and a half, then they didn't have much time. The other problem was that they needed running water, or else a means to boil the water if it was scummy, to proof it of bacteria.

There was a strange rustling, a series of curses, and grunting that shook Sakura from her planning. She jumped up, looking around panicked for the source of the sounds. "...Sasuke?" She called warily. Behind her, more rustling came, and Sasuke fell out of a bush, with something struggling in his arms.

"What are you doing just standing there? Help me, you idiot!" He choked. Sakura realized he'd caught a rabbit and by the looks of the bit of blood, had shot at it but for the most part, missed. Sakura sighed. Even if he was a savage, demented serial killer, he wasn't very good at it. She moved to help him pin down the rabbit, but it broke free just in time, scampering off. Sasuke jumped up, knocked Sakura out of the way with his elbow, and pulled out his gun, firing it. Sakura blinked stupidly from her place on the ground. Scratch that. He clearly _was_ very good at it. Even she could tell it'd been a perfect shot.

"You're pretty violent about this whole business." She muttered, standing up and brushing herself off as Sasuke retrieved the rabbit. He turned to look at her.

"I am so. fucking. hungry." He growled, holding up the rabbit and pulling out his pocket knife. He sat down on a large, flat stone, and began to skin it. Sakura screamed and covered her eyes.

"That's disgusting, Sasuke. Can't we just eat berries... or something?" She peeked out at the rabbit through fingers and wished she hadn't. She turned away and lowered her hands, her appetite distinctly curbed.

"You wanna eat that? Go and find it yourself, then. Just hope you know the difference between poisonous ones and edible ones."

Sakura sighed resignedly. It was true, she didn't know the difference. On top of that, berries didn't provide any real nourishment, whereas a rabbit was guaranteed to. She folded her arms petulantly, and then stopped, realizing she was acting like Sasuke now. It looked like she'd be eating like a true hick now.

Sasuke (somehow) managed to cook the rabbit and they chewed on the tasteless meat in tense silence. Sakura still was in shock but knew she had to survive, and to do that she'd have to get going and find water soon enough. "I'm going to go find some water. We can't go on much longer without it, anyway." She stood up, wiping her hands on the red pleated skirt of her uniform.

"You probably will get lost, which means I have to go with you." He replied tersely, finishing off his food. The fire was dying out and he put it out by stomping on it with his sneaker. Sakura looked at him quizzically but shrugged it off and began walking towards the mountains in the distance. She could probably find a stream running down the mountain. She was quickly learning to ignore his harsh demeanor. After seeing the helpless look in his eyes that he'd tried to cover by yelling at her when he'd ruined that bird, she could see that whenever he yelled or acted rude, it was to cover some other emotion up. What that was in this case, she didn't know, but she felt comforted by the fact that he was all bark and very little bite. Take his gun away and he was just a big softie, she thought grinning. Okay, well, maybe softie was an exaggeration. At any rate, he wasn't a terrible guy. Just misunderstood. And very bratty.

She heard footsteps behind her. Sure enough, Sasuke was running to catch up with her.

"I told you to wait." He sniffed, looking at her crossly. Sakura rolled her eyes. Even if she _had_ just dissected his character, it didn't make him any easier to deal with. If anything, it made him more difficult. She sighed. If they ever made it out of this alive, she was going to have all the experience in the world in dealing with toddlers.

--

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading haha. PLEASE REVIEW! I'm worried that I'm making this too light-hearted, but let's face it: I suck at drama. I'm much more of a comedic writer (even though I'm rarely funny, lol) and so this kind of plot is hard for me. Actually, my other newish story, I'd Die Too, is the hardest. There's like, NO room for funny stuff. It's all serious and dark and angsty and contemplative and I'm struggling, haha. Oh well. So yeah, please review and tell me what you think. Coming up, chapter three: Streams, Kissing, and Bears, Oh My!


	3. Chapter 3

Mayday

A/N: Well, I would've had this out much sooner, but Harry Potter came out... you know how it is. I gotta say, the epilogue ruined it for me, but the rest was good. Haha, it only took me 9 hours and 45 minutes. Have you ever met a speedier dyslexic reader? I think not!

Well, this chapter is longer, and really sappy—no really, I was twitching as I wrote it. I'm so bad at sappy stuff. Thanks for all your reviews, by the way! They really encouraged me to write more, which is why this chapter came so fast. To know that people actually like this is so heartening :) So keep up the reviews, they really mean something to me. Oh yeah... and I promised a kiss in this chapter, but... it just didn't feel right. So you'll all have to wait til chapter four for the really kissy stuff to begin. -sigh- I want this to be 10 chapters so we're nearly a third there! PLEASE REVIEW!!! I love to know how I am doing!

Chapter Three

"So... can I call you Sasuke-_kun_?" She batted her eyelashes at him sycophantically, which he responded to by looking away and scoffing.

"You're really annoying." He grunted, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets and scowling in what Sakura knew now to be typical Sasuke fashion. Sakura smirked. She'd take that as a yes, thanks much.

As the sky darkened with night approaching, Sasuke became more and more agitated as they traveled further from camp. They hadn't found any sign of any streams, but Sakura had definitely felt they'd become a little more civil to each other, which was progress. Even if they did die of dehydration, at least they'd die as dehydrated comrades, dammit! Her hunch about Sasuke just being a good guy with a crappy attitude seemed, as far as she could tell, spot on. He responded to everything with some sort of harmless insult and a sulky expression. It looked like he wasn't a serial killer after all. It almost disappointed her, but then she remembered that she was stranded with this guy. Right. Back to reality!

Sasuke stole glances at his new companion as they walked. She was fairly quiet except for obnoxious fake-flirting, but he couldn't say it bothered him all that much. She was obviously trying to amuse herself, and it seemed to be working, so he decided to let her have her fun. For now. If she got too annoying, he could always knock her out with the friendlier end of his pocketknife. With a smirk he glanced again at her forehead. It wasn't exactly a hard target to miss.

He weighed the options critically in his mind. If he did knock her out, he'd have to carry her, which he'd done earlier when he'd awoken and had to move her from the wreckage. It wasn't the easiest task in the world, even though she wasn't tubby and he wasn't weak. In other words, it probably wasn't worth the trouble to carry her all the way back to camp just to shut her up.

...Could he drag her? His coal eyes narrowed, surveying her clothing. Her clothes had already taken a beating. He could just say she'd passed out and hope she didn't notice that she'd been dragged a good three miles back to camp.

Oh, shit. She was looking at him expectantly, her pink—they couldn't be natural... could they?--eyebrows raised and her lips pursed. She must've asked him a question. He coughed.

"Er... _yes._" He said decisively. Hopefully that wasn't too condemning, whatever he was answering 'yes' to.

Sakura grinned. This was too much fun. She hadn't asked him anything—just given him a look. Now was the real fun of proving he was a sucky listener.

"Oh, so you are then. The outfit clued me in, but the hair made me almost positive. Good thing to know my radar is still working." She smiled pleasantly, winking and tapping her head. Sasuke stiffened. What radar? What the hell did his hair have to do with anything? Sure, the back stuck up a bit—it'd always done that—but who was she to disparage his hair? She was the one with the pink rat's nest! Sakura watched with glee as he ran a hand self-consciously over the back of his hair when he thought she wasn't looking. While nothing about his clothing (jeans, sneakers, a black tee shirt, and dark blue windbreaker) spoke of anything less than a straight guy completely oblivious to style, it was certainly a fun way to mess with such a "tough" guy.

They walked in silence, with Sakura fighting back hysterical shrieking laughter—it was probably a bad idea to seriously anger your only companion—and Sasuke switching between sulking and tugging at his clothes and hair, clearly wigging out inwardly, desperately wondering what she had been talking about, but having too much pride to just ask.

"We need to get back to camp. We might not even find our way back in the daylight, let alone at night." Sasuke spoke finally. They hadn't come across any sign of water, but Sakura was already beginning to feel light-headed from thirst.

"You're right." She sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. She really was suddenly feeling sick. "Just let me sit down a minute. I don't feel good..." She plopped down where she stood, breathing slowly and digging her fingers into the ground. Sasuke crouched down in front of her and she sucked in a breath of surprise. It seemed that every time she looked at him he was more handsome than before. She shook her head. Now she was just getting delirious. But those black eyes... she wanted to gouge them out with a spoon and stare into them at the same time and now was not the time to feel that way. _I really must be delirious._

He studied her, watching her face pale and her eyes focus and unfocus. "I guess we really do need that water, huh." She laughed, but it shook her and she stopped abruptly. Sasuke's eyebrows drew together in thought. Finally he stood up.

"I can run pretty fast for a long time. If you get on my back then I can run and find a stream, drop you off, then run back to camp and bring all our stuff to nearby the stream. Can you be alone for that long?"

His voice wasn't caring, it was businesslike, which at the moment was comforting. Sakura thought for a moment, but realized it was the best way. Damn, the man was quick in strategizing. She nodded and he held out a hand. "Stand and I'll crouch down and you can get on my back. Just hold on tight."

She let him pull her easily to her feet and she nearly fell onto his back. Embarrassed and awkwardly, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He stood up and then the trees were going by in a dark green and brown blur. Sakura closed her eyes and let her head rest in the crook where his shoulder ended and his neck began. She could feel his pulse and it was soothing, in a strange way.

"You're nice... you know that?" She murmured into his shirt. It was true, he was. In a weird and unconventional sort of way. He wasn't exactly going to win a congeniality award, but in his own way he was a good person. Not many guys would have been nice about her feeling sick suddenly. Had she been pretty it would have been a different story, but she knew she wasn't great looking, and she also knew men were less likely to do things for unattractive women. Much less likely. She knew from many personal experiences. Her status only got her so far; after that she had nothing to help, save for her own quick wit.

The words were strange to Sasuke's ears. He'd only heard that from two people, ever before, in his life. One of those was from Naruto. The other, his mother. Technically, his brother had said it also, but it had been meant as a bad thing, so it wasn't quite the same. He'd been called smart, handsome, athletic, sexy... all those kinds of compliments. But never comments on his character. It felt good and Sasuke felt his throat tighten with emotion. Then again that might have been Sakura's arms tightening painfully around his neck.

It occurred to him that for all his planning, he'd ended up carrying her anyway. The gods were probably laughing their holy asses off right now.

--

"Well, there's always giving up another blanket to make two tents..." Sakura offered hesitantly. Sasuke scoffed.

"That's stupid." He snapped. Sakura rolled her eyes. At this rate they'd never get to sleep.

Sasuke had found a stream pretty quickly and Sakura felt much better after drinking some water. Unfortunately, night was creeping into the forest and the air was even colder, causing Sakura to shiver. She hadn't realized that she'd end up sharing a tent and bed with her petulant companion but as the evening passed on, and they both shook more and more with violent shivers, it looked more and more likely. Not that she was opposed to sharing a small bed with a man whose looks rivaled... well, everyone's...

"Okay... well then you come up with something." She shrugged and knelt by the stream to cup her hands and drink some of the water. For all they knew the water had passed through a landfill, but it didn't taste weird and she was too thirsty to care at the moment. She heard cursing and it sounded like Sasuke was kicking a tree now. "Look, I know I'm not the most gorgeous girl in the world, but you could at least act less like you're about to be tortured by sharing a tent with me." She sniffed.

Sasuke looked at her with wide onyx eyes, completely scandalized, but said nothing.

"I think we have no choice. It's too cold to be separate and only have one blanket each." Sasuke grumbled, already looking ready to fully enter sulk mode. "You set up the tents, I'll start the fire."

Sakura watched in fascination as Sasuke began ripping out patches of grass nearby their blankets. He stopped and looked up, staring icily at her. "Well? Hurry up. We don't want to be doing this all night."

Sakura scowled at him but set to work making a tent. She draped one blanket over a low branch, copying the tent Sasuke had made near the plane, and then weighed down the corners of the tent with rocks. When she stepped back to admire her work, she turned around at the sound of cursing. What was wrong with that idiot _now?_

But when she turned around, a fire was blazing and a very satisfied looking Uchiha was sitting next to it, smirking down at the fire in much the same way he'd smirked at the bird he'd shot. Wow, he really had a serious need-to-win complex.

For an awkward moment, they were in silence, looking at everything except each other. What now? Did they just crawl into bed? It _was_ dark now. Sakura gasped as she looked up at the sky.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, following her gaze.

"I've never seen so many stars..." She whispered, quite literally starstruck.

"It's because we're in the fucking middle of nowhere. Not enough light from any cities to block out the light from the stars."

"Oh."

She looked back and Sasuke was heading into the tent. He stopped halfway and looked back, irritated. "Are you going to come inside or just stand there gaping at the sky all night?"

Sakura blushed and awkwardly crawled into the tent after him. It was difficult to move comfortably, because the tent was so small, and their elbows, shoulders, and knees bumped at even the slightest movement. Overcome with a choking feeling of claustrophobia, they turned away from each other and finally settled.

Minutes, maybe even hours passed, but sleep, instead of claiming them, danced around tauntingly in front of them, waving little sticks and singing the Hokey Pokey-

Sasuke blinked in the growing darkness. He must be going crazy. Only Naruto would think such ridiculous things. With a strange stinging pain in his chest that Sasuke quickly attributed to acid from the rabbit he'd ingested earlier, Sasuke thought of his friend. He was probably scarfing down instant ramen and drinking milk straight out of the carton while watching television. Had Sakura been reported missing yet? The flight was only supposed to take three hours, and they must have been gone for about two days. Not for the first time, Sasuke thought of rescue teams. Surely they'd see the camp they'd left and also realize two bodies were missing from the charred mass? It was all they could count on, since they had no other way of being near water and near the plane at the same time. Maybe one of those fancy police dogs would find their scent and sniff them out...

He felt Sakura move slightly beside him. Their backs were pressed together; there was no other way, but even so, the contact made the tenseness of the situation increase exponentially. It was the sort of situation one would find in one of those ridiculous romance novels his mother used to collect obsessively, and yet he couldn't imagine feeling further from romance. All he felt was awkward, clumsy, and wondering feverishly if he smelled bad.

"...Sasuke-kun? Are you awake?" He heard her breathe.

"What a stupid question." He said, but he was too tired to make it sound mean. Instead, it came out conversational, and he knew that she was probably laughing at him inwardly, as she'd been doing all day.

"Do you think they'll find us?" She whispered, but there was a tremor in her voice and Sasuke realized she had not been laughing at him inwardly at all just now. She had been crying.

He couldn't stand being around people crying. He twitched; it took every bit of strength and will from his deepest reserves to not get up and run away screaming from the girl whose body was quivering slightly. But how could _he_ possibly comfort her? He could admit that his emotional range wasn't exactly that of a normal person... but then again she wasn't exactly normal, either. Remembering the look on her face when she'd pretended to joke that he must be mad to be sleeping with an ugly girl, he shifted a bit. Something told him she carried with her a lot of pain, just like him...

"They will." He replied with a steady voice that belied his shaking nerves. He couldn't explain the sudden connection he'd felt to the pink haired girl; it made less sense than a drunken Naruto. But he'd _known_ for a split second there, just _known_ that they shared something, some bond of deep pain...

"Tell me about yourself?" Her voice was hesitant and still trembling, but it was evident she wasn't crying anymore. Yet the request still hung in the air pendulously. He didn't like people knowing about his past... "just a random fact. Nothing serious. I'm exhausted but I can't sleep and I have the feeling you can't either."

"What is with you and these stupid ideas and games?" he grumbled. He heard Sakura giggle.

"Well it's not like we have anything better to do. Here, I'll start. Let's see... I like the color pink. Now your turn." Her tone was chipper and Sasuke scowled, wondering how she managed that state of being without caffeine. Maybe she did know his level of pain, but they certainly had opposite dispositions. How exhausting. She was like Naruto, only pink instead of orange.

"Wow, I really couldn't tell you liked pink, Sakura!" He said in a fake awe-struck voice. He grunted when a sharp elbow came in contact with his side. Damn, she was stronger than he'd expected. "Fine, fine. Okay... " He squinted in concentration. What could he tell her that wouldn't make her cringe and wish she hadn't asked? Trivial details of his life seemed to fall away at the one, main event, that overshadowed all else and made everything that tried to come into his life pale. "...I hate beef-flavored instant ramen."

Sakura giggled. "It's funny, I said something I liked and you said something you hated."

"Just go, idiot."

"Okay! Hm..." Even without looking at her, he knew she was tapping her chin in as she looked skyward. She always seemed to do that every time she thought. "When I was little, I was in the emergency room and overheard this little boy crying, well not little, about my age, maybe a bit older, and his older brother comforting him. The little boy—he'd fallen off his bike, or something. His knees and elbows were really bloody and he was shaking, and I was so struck by the scene that ever since then, I've wanted to be a doctor. A pediatrician, more specifically."

Sasuke sat there, stunned. It reminded him of a memory, before everything had turned rotten... his bike, that midnight blue that he so favored, the bright sky he'd later associate with Naruto's eyes, then blocked by Itachi's face, still full of life and handsome. 'Little Sasuke... come on... we have to go to the hospital. You're hurt...'

Itachi's face swam in front of his mind's eye and slowly aged, until Itachi was nineteen and already he had the face of their father: haggard, pointed, harsh, and hateful. Sasuke clenched his fist, but another thought occurred to him. "...Did the older brother have long, really long black hair, in a ponytail?" He had to work to keep his voice level.

Sakura's surprise was obvious. "Yeah! How'd you know?"

So even then, in a strange and insignificant way, he'd been connected to Sakura. "It's nothing."

"Oh. Well, your turn, anyway!"

He thought of Itachi again, but then his mind flitted to Mikoto. He could tell by Sakura's tone that she'd shared something important, probably something she'd never told anyone before, and because of the reaction he'd had it made him want to do the same. "When I was little, my mother hated to cook. She only liked baking, and it made my father so angry that our kitchen was always a horrible mess, covered in flour and dribbles of sweet glazes... I was my mother's favorite, and she always shared what she'd made with me. One time, between the two of us, we ate an entire batch of chocolate candies." He didn't tell her that for whatever reason, it had made his father so angry that he'd forbidden Mikoto to go near the kitchen, and he'd broken the oven, and that the whole time, only Sasuke had seen this, but Itachi had stood serenely in the doorway, a placid smile on his almost-handsome shadowed face. Sasuke's face contorted in a pain that became near physical. At the root of his parent's troubles, Itachi had always been there, a cancerous growth spreading and taking over without its victims even noticing until it was too late.

He realized the memory probably sounded stupid to her, especially without the context of why a memory of his mother was so special, or what had happened after they'd eaten the sweets. It probably was an impotent story.

Sakura could only blink, remembering how Sasuke had reacted in the car just a few days ago when she'd asked if he was related to that model, Mikoto. If he was (and he probably was, otherwise he wouldn't have reacted so weirdly... or would he?) then what he'd shared was extremely precious. Sakura had learned a long time ago that memories of parents being loving were invaluable; she had so few of her own that she knew that.

"...Thank you." She said into the night air that hung so tensely it was practically suffocating the two people.

"I-"

He stopped when there was a very clear, very definite rustling somewhere near the tent. Were their rescuers nearby? They both held their breaths in, but when strange grunting noises followed, a new thought struck them both:

What kind of animals lived in this forest?

The feeling of Sasuke's hand on her forearm galvanized her but his grip tightened. "Don't move." His voice could have been the wind through the trees, it was so quiet, but she knew he'd spoken. Great, she thought, mentally cursing whatever animal had had the gall to ruin their _moment._ Her heart sped up as the rustling became louder, and the animal was silhouetted against their tent by the light of the dying-out fire. Sakura bit back a squeal of fear.

It was a bear. A huge, hairy, smelly, grunting, _probably hungry_ bear. Did bears eat humans? She'd only ever heard of attacks, never bears feeding on humans. But what if it was rabid? And had huge claws and pointy teeth and glowing yellow eyes and scales... wait no, that was dragons. Riiight.

It was on Sasuke's side, and to Sasuke's credit, he didn't even twitch. Sakura realized with a blush that their backs were pressed even more firmly against each other's, and, though awkwardly and more her forearm than her hand itself, Sasuke was holding her.

The rustling moved away and became fainter and fainter, until they could not hear it at all. They each finally let out the huge quantities of air they'd been holding in. Sakura's lips twisted into a smile. The absurdity of the situation finally hit her full-force: she was one of two survivors of a private plane crash, and her companion was a gorgeous guy who, if she were honest with herself, she was quickly falling in love with, and it wasn't just his looks that she was finding herself attracted by. On top of that she was lying in a tent, pressed up against him, and they had almost been attacked by a bear.

Goodness, and she didn't even know how to drive yet!

She let out an exhilarated laugh and flopped onto her back, bumping Sasuke's bony shoulders.

"Well, we survived day one in the wilderness, Sasuke-kun." She giggled. Sasuke rolled onto his back too and they stared at the branch above them which the tent had been hung on. Sakura turned her head to look at Sasuke. Green met black and she smiled warmly at him. She'd never been close to anyone before—it just had never worked out that way—but right now, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, to have shared a piece of your soul with someone. She'd never told anyone about why she wanted so desperately to be a doctor, and she was fairly sure Sasuke had never, ever told anyone about the memory he'd just shared. The bear had been a minor interruption. What had happened just now eclipsed everything else.

Sasuke let himself smile back at Sakura, though it was small, and nearly imperceptible. He knew she understood, he could see it in her eyes. How had she so suddenly crept under his defenses, the ones he'd spent years putting up so expertly? She had somehow forced him to let her in, to let her find out something about him, but now that it'd happened, he didn't exactly mind. Right now, he felt closer to her than he'd ever felt even to Naruto, who he admitted to himself was his best friend. Now that this had occurred...

did he even _want_ to go back?

--


	4. Chapter 4

Mayday

A/N: Well, it's time to introduce the conflict in the story (and you thought the plane crash was the conflict... ha! It's just the beginning... mwahahaha) because as my friend and editor Claire said, I am a puppetmaster and enjoy inflicting pain, suffering, and stabbage on my characters. This chapter is where the problems begin... -evil cackling- and I hope you all enjoy the fun.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto it would be mainly a romance, centered around Sakura and Sasuke. That annoying Karin girl would be dead, and Shikamaru (probably the coolest character) would have a WAY bigger part. Obviously that hasn't happened, so obviously I don't own Naruto. Ahh, deductive reasoning.

Chapter Four

"Oi, open up!"

Narrowed opal eyes squinted through the small glass circle and their owner sighed. Not that idiot again.

Neji let out another long-suffering sigh that he made sure his blonde "friend" Naruto heard as he painstakingly opened his door to the walking personification of exuberance and his band of morons.

Naruto stood in the hallway, a determined frown on his handsome and normally sunny face. Behind him, Kiba was trying hopelessly to get that stupid dog of his to not pee on the already shabby carpet and Shikamaru looked like he was doing an interpretive dance of Boredom. Shino was studying the carpet where a cockroach was moving along, those ridiculous sunglasses still on, and Lee was practicing different karate poses. The only surprise here was that Sasuke was missing.

"Whatever it is, the answer's _no._" Neji slammed the door closed again without a second thought. Naruto had these ideas of his almost every weekend, and they usually included whatever sport or activity the blonde was currently obsessed with. Last weekend, it had been skiing and the only reason Neji had gone was because at the last minute, Kiba and Lee had bailed, which cut the level of noise and stupidity in half, at the very least.

Neji could handle Shino, Shikamaru, and Sasuke any day, mostly because they were all silent except for Shikamaru's occasional complaints and Sasuke's arguments with Naruto. And Naruto was generally so preoccupied with trying to get Sasuke out of one of his sulks that he didn't have time enough to bother Neji too much. The skiing had turned into a fierce competition between Sasuke and Naruto. Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino had ended up sitting in the lodge, drinking coffee and watching disdainfully out the large windows as the blonde and his best friend tumbled down the mountain like the idiots they were.

"Hey! No way, Neji! This is important! Open up, you ass!"

Neji opened the door a crack. "You've got thirty seconds and after that I'm bolting this thing shut and cutting the phone lines. Ready, set, _go_." Neji hissed scathingly. Naruto pumped his fist, unmarred by Neji's rude demeanor. Most of his friends were ill-tempered and antisocial and he'd long grown accustomed to dealing with it. That was probably why he was best friends with Sasuke: the black-haired man was temperamental but inconsistent. Naruto had learned long ago that the bad attitude merely covered a guy that was actually all heart. Naruto knew Sasuke was worth the energy he had to put into handling him.

On the other hand he strongly doubted there was the same wealth of good buried in Neji.

"Alright! Okay. So, you heard about how that guy Haruno Shinji's daughter's gone missing? They think the plane crashed. And, I don't think you heard, but Sasuke's her new bodyguard."

Neji raised an eyebrow, but hesitated. Naruto was annoying but had seen a lot of sadness and death in his life. This was probably going to be just another tombstone for the hyperactive moron to visit. His especially obnoxious behavior probably was due to knowing that Sasuke was dead, deep down, but not being able to accept it.

"...You realize they are both more than likely dead."

"Sasuke isn't dead. I _know_ he isn't. And if you don't believe me, then don't join us. But we're all going to look for Bastard. _They_ believe me." Naruto pointed to his friends standing behind him. Neji caught Shino's eye (rather, his sunglasses) and raised an eyebrow. Shino simply shrugged. Helplessly, Neji turned to Shikamaru. If anyone was going to see that this was even more absurd than renting skis for Akamaru, it would be Shikamaru. Shikamaru crossed his arms and smirked.

"Come on, you know Sasuke would think dying so soon would be a total drag. Besides, mourning is troublesome. They haven't even found the plane yet. I'd rather wait 'til we were positive he was six feet under to start grieving."

Neji sputtered. Didn't anyone else realize how stupid this was? Certainly it was a shame that Sasuke had died, but they were acting more childish than usual in believing that the onyx-eyed young man had survived a _plane crash_.

"We're meeting tonight at my apartment to plan, if you change your mind. You heartless asshole." Naruto snarled. Neji cringed. He'd only seen Naruto truly angry a few times, and once it had ended in a broken nose for him.

"Whatever." He slammed the door shut, overcome with guilt.

--

"Okay, well, _you_ think of something, genius-face." Sakura glared, folding her arms across her chest, trying to keep from full-out shaking. The fluffy white flakes that used to be pretty and mean hot chocolate and snowmen to the pink haired survivor now meant possible frostbite and hypothermia.

"You're supposed to be smart!" Sasuke yelled in exasperation. He was in one of his moods, most likely because there hadn't been any sign of rescue. He had been virtually silent and anti-social, and to top it all off, had nearly shot Sakura when hunting a bunny. It had been an _incredibly slow-moving _day. They were both tired, sore from sleeping on the hard ground with little cushioning, hungry for edible food, thirsty, smelly, and in a word, cranky. And now, those merry white flakes were floating to the ground, becoming denser every minute. The sad little tent they'd constructed was already covered and weighed down by the stuff.

Sakura clapped her hands over her face, trying to keep the frustration from completely bubbling over. Despite the closeness that Sakura had felt to Sasuke the night before, today the closeness was grating on her already fried nerves. They were both perfectionists, both as temperamental as her father's advisor Tsunade, and both extremely determined people. These shared characteristics had caused several blowups during the day and Sakura sensed a blowup very, _very_ soon.

"You know, you always hear you should go on a trip with someone most like you. Whoever said that was bonkers." Sakura grumbled, dropping onto a fallen log. "Maybe for now we should just light a really good fire and stick by it all night. It's too dark to search for a more sheltered area now anyway."

Sasuke frowned but it seemed he agreed, for he began lighting a fire again. Sakura watched with amusement as he used his pocketknife, a rock, and a leaf to set fire to the sticks that were left from the night before. The fire finally blazed and Sasuke smirked triumphantly. He grabbed the blankets from inside the tent and handed Sakura two to wrap around herself. She smiled gratefully and bundled up, as did he. Surprisingly, especially in light of the events of the day, Sasuke sat down right next to her on the log. What a moody guy.

"Wanna play trade facts about yourself?" She asked after several minutes of silence. Sasuke shrugged and grunted and Sakura took that as a yes. She furrowed her brow in thought.

"Hmm... oh! I know. I've never had a boyfriend." Sakura said, blushing lightly. The firelight danced on their faces and warmed them, slightly. They watched the stream bubble and move. The banks were covered in frost and ice was beginning to form where the water moved less. Yes, winter was officially here.

It'd been a day since the bear attack, and now that night was creeping in again, the question of what animal would visit them tonight hung in the frigid air. Sakura glanced nervously at Sasuke, looking for a response. Sasuke didn't look at her, he just stared into the fire.

Sakura looked down at the ground, wishing she hadn't told him. She didn't know why she had; wasn't that on the list of things you _weren't_ supposed to tell a cute guy? Well, that just made it even more painfully obvious why she hadn't had a boyfriend in the first place.

"Never been kissed, or anything. Pretty sad, huh." She chortled, but it was empty.

"...It isn't sad."

"Ah. ...Well I think it's your turn."

A silence so lengthy passed, she thought he might not have heard her, but just as she opened her mouth to speak again, he spoke. "I had to drop out of my prep school because I didn't have the money to pay for it. My brother stole the money that should have been mine."

Sakura blinked. Wonders never ceased with this headcase. One minute he's firing at her, the next he's spilling out pieces of his obviously dark life story. He turned to look at her, his face even more devastatingly handsome in the soft light. "I think it's your turn." He mimicked.

She grappled for something to say. "Er..." She closed her eyes, trying to think of something worthwhile to tell the scarred man. She had something, something terrible and sad, that no one ever knew. But was it worth it to tell Sasuke? What would he think of her if he knew? No, she couldn't tell him _that._ Besides, obviously he was the dark angsty one. "My favorite kind of food is ice cream." She said, finally. She saw Sasuke in her peripheral vision, appraising her expression with disdainfully raised eyebrows. "...What?"

"Why don't you try telling me what you were going to, instead of covering it up with stupid facts that are meaningless?"

The bluntness of his request would have been shocking, but already, even after barely two days, she felt she'd known him for years. And yet at moments he managed to surprise her again. ...How did he do that? One day she swore she'd find out. Maybe it was just a trait of hot guys, to let you think you know them, and then suddenly do something unpredictably kind and sweet. She shut her eyes tightly. "...You'd be disgusted."

She heard a scoffing noise. "Looks like we have a lot in common."

She felt her hands trembling, and she stole a glance at Sasuke. His eyes were fixed on her. When their eyes met she felt calmer, though. His eyebrows were raised witheringly, as usual, but when she looked, _really looked _into them, she saw understanding. She knew then that however he insulted her later, it wouldn't be real. Because he'd accept her. Even still, her voice shook as she spoke. "My hair... I kept it really long, because... there was this boy I liked. I thought he was the one for me, and I'd heard he liked long hair."

She halted when she heard Sasuke snicker. He shook his head. "No, go on."

"...Anyway, he and his friends found out about my... my crush. And he started emailing me, pretending to have fallen in love. But one day, I walked into the computer lab to find him reading... one of my emails... out loud to all his friends. My hair's actually red. I dyed it and cut it after that."

"...Is that what I'm supposed to be disgusted by?" Sasuke was smirking. "Embarrassing, yeah, but only because you couldn't see he was a moron. Pretty stupid of you, I'd say."

Sakura glared but it was half-hearted. It was certainly one of her darker memories. And yet Sasuke was brushing it off as though she'd tripped or something. "Your turn, now. And it'd better be good, mister Uchiha." She poked his arm, pretending to be scolding him, and he snorted. Somehow, the mood had lifted again. He still accepted her. He didn't think she was a loser.

"Fine." He whined. He muttered something under his breath about stupid women and their stupid games, but his eyes were bright. Sakura giggled and couldn't resist it: she moved closer to him. Their arms brushed. "In fifth grade, my best friend Naruto dressed up as a girl and tricked me into kissing him. A real kiss, too. He was just doing it to be funny—he's the biggest clown—and even though all the guys made fun of me relentlessly, it only added to my popularity with all the girls and for years all the girls tried dressing up as boys to get my attention." He scowled but there was a faint blush across his cheeks. Sakura burst into laughter that rang through the trees. It felt good to laugh and she laughed even harder when she realized Sasuke had buried his face in his hands and was shaking with laughter too.

"You know..." She said, after finally the laughter had ended, tears of mirth streaming down her face and glinting in the firelight, "we have had such opposite lives... and yet, I... feel closer to you... than anyone else I've ever known."

The words hung uncertainly in the air; Sakura realized how dumb it had been to say them. Sasuke wasn't a sappy guy and now he had narrowed his beautiful onyx eyes at her. She held her breath.

"We haven't had opposite lives." He said, looking at her like she was the most horrifically idiotic person he'd ever met. Too bad she didn't know about Naruto. It would have been comforting at that moment. Sakura looked away, thinking.

"Of course we have. I've always been an outcast, hated by everyone for my status, intellect, and ugliness, and you've been loved, for... well, everything." She said softly. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her exasperatedly. He'd been doing that a lot. She idly wondered if he enjoyed being so disdainful.

"We've both been ostracized for one thing or another. But in the end it's come down to our families. I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Sakura flushed hotly. "I am! I just--"

"And stop saying you're ugly. You keep saying it and it's getting on my nerves." He snapped. Sakura blushed even redder. She opened her mouth to disagree, but he looked sharply at her and she shut her mouth quickly. But she broke into a smile again.

"You really are a good guy, even if you want everyone else to think differently." She placed a small hand on his shoulder. His eyes moved to it momentarily and the faintest blush spread across his cheeks.

"I... hey wait, what are you-gah, get off of me you insane freak!" Sasuke choked. Sakura had thrown her arms around him and was dangerously close to throttling the Uchiha in her hug. She loosened her hold, and she smiled when she felt Sasuke's hands move hesitantly to her upper back.

The snow dissolved by the warmth of the fire and the effect was sheltering. Sakura dared to snuggle closer and she could feel Sasuke's heart beating faster as he fastidiously tightened his hold too.

They pulled away, and perhaps it was the hazy glow from the firelight, perhaps it was going crazy from hunger, or perhaps it really was something special—maybe all three—but quickly they moved closer. It would be Sakura first kiss and her stomach was doing backflips-

-CLUNK-

"OW! My nobe! Id bleedig!"

--

"Kisame, where are your manners? Please excuse him, Haruno-san."

The butler lay facedown on the floor and across the room, Haruno Shinji cowered in fear behind his desk. A devilishly handsome man with long black hair and a tired, serene face stood by the doorway. Shinji recognized him from various parties for all the diplomats, politicians, and their funders. He always wore a black suit and the man called Kisame was always with him. Kisame was as ugly as the black haired man was handsome, with skin so pale it was tinted blue and with the cold, heartless eyes of a natural-born killer.

"I'm sure you recall meeting me last year at Hyuuga-san's birthday party for his daughter, Hinata. You know Hyuuga-san of course from all those negotiations with Sunagakure. He was quite a help to you, Haruno-san, if my memory is correct."

The eloquence of the dark-haired man's speech triggered a memory for Shinji. He remembered him now. His name was Itachi Uchiha, the heir to the enormous Uchiha fortune. The Uchiha family reputation had been trashed by tragedy when the mother, that famous model, was murdered so brutally, the father had committed suicide soon after, and the younger brother to Itachi had gone missing. But Itachi had spent so many years rebuilding his family name and now had a hand in most political dealings. The man was insidious in his ability to appear nothing more than a harmless, placid little rich boy. But in reality Haruno Shinji had come to respect him for his ruthless tactics and charisma. On a good day, he was fascinated by the heir to tragedy, but at the moment he was terrified for his own life.

"Y-yes," he stammered, straightening himself and trying to appear more in control. Kisame had those horrifically cold eyes fixed on him, but even worse, so did Itachi. Those eyes... they were harrowing, for they appeared black. But every so often Shinji caught a disturbing red gleam in them that did not bode well.

"Wonderful. Well, we've caught wind of your daughter's disappearance. And I'd like to utilize my abundant resources to aid you in locating your lovely only child. I'm sure it's affecting your work, Haruno-san, to be worried sick about your dear daughter."

Shinji nodded, his mouth going dry. He was no fool; he could see the direction this was headed. Itachi was nothing if not a barbarous strategist. Shinji knew the Uchiha wanted something from him.

"What's in it for you?"

Itachi's beautiful mouth curled into a disturbingly complacent smile.

"Why, nothing more than the satisfaction of helping _you,_ Haruno-san."

--

Ooh! Why does Itachi want to help find Sakura? Is he looking to find Sasuke? Or is it something else? Will Sasuke's nose ever stop bleeding? Will Neji help team Naruto look for the bastard? Find out in chapter five!!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Dude. It's been forever. Well, this was a bit rushed. I've kind of had it with this fic. One more chapter and then it's done. PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter Five

In a snow-covered grove of trees, two people lay sleeping curled up close to the glowing embers of the dying fire of the night before. They shivered in their sleep and were scrunched up and very near each other in the intense cold.

Sasuke blinked at his glittering white surroundings, and was instantly greeted by the throbbing in his nose.

"Fucking hell!" He started off the fresh day with a string of expletives and getting up to kick a nearby stone. Recalling the failed kiss from the night before, he pressed his hand to his nose. Well, _that_ was an epic failure if there ever had been one. He glanced at his currently snoozing companion whose nose was also bruised. Girls had never been this difficult before.

He started the fire and sat down on the log again, sobered by the previous night's event. Sakura seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough, but there was frost in her hair and she shivered every once in a while. He frowned and knelt down, touching her smooth cheek with his fingers gently. She was too cold now.

He'd never had someone to care for before, but as he watched the sleeping less-than-beauty he felt he was beginning to understand what that crap about friendship and caring Naruto was always spouting like a demented teapot was about. And he couldn't say he didn't welcome the beginnings of such enlightenment. He began to push her pink locks away from her face tenderly, but snatched his hand back.

Now he was just being creepy.

But how did one go about caring for someone? He'd never been the touchy-feely type. He knew about how his mother had cared for him, but this was different. Sasuke frowned again, searching his memory for examples of nice things guys did for girls they liked. An idea struck the Uchiha and he smirked, righting himself. It'd be perfect. Sakura would be so overcome with gratitude, she'd have to give him a proper kiss. None of that nose-breaking crap anymore.

--

"Er... that's... lovely. Thank you... I think." Sakura grappled for words, staring down at the 'meal' before her. She'd only awoken a few moments ago, and instead of waking hungry and cold in the clearing, it had been in a shallow cave, most likely in the side of one of the mountains she'd seen earlier. A fire was blazing and now a partially cooked bloody rabbit was being thrust at her by an extremely self-congratulatory Uchiha.

But then his features darkened and Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes. She knew what was coming now. He'd get angry that she wasn't thrilled by his cooking efforts and go off and sulk, and she'd have to comfort him.

"You don't like it." He not only seemed angry but totally deflated as well, and it stung Sakura. Well, he _had_ tried to please her, which was definitely an improvement over the Sasuke she'd initially met It was romantic in the way that only Sasuke could make something resembling roadkill romantic and she smiled warmly at him, which seemed to sorely confuse him.

"...Not really." She said, trying to mask her giggles. Then, an idea popped into her head. "Howabout you show me how to hunt and we go get breakfast together?" She narrowed her eyes when his glare that usually meant he was about to be condescending passed over his face. "And just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't try it." She warned, prodding his chest with a threatening index finger. Sasuke sighed resignedly, rolling his eyes.

"_Fine._ But don't go blaming me when you shoot your ear off." He smirked, flicking her ear. She glared but her cheeks flushed hotly.

"Whatever. My nose is already screwed up, so _why not_ let my ears be screwed up too?" She hissed scathingly.

Sasuke froze. The night before had been acknowledged. Inwardly, he chuckled dryly. _The night before._ It sounded so sexual. He snorted. Sex would have been so much easier to deal with; in this case his pride was wounded and his vanity too, to top it all off.

He looked up at Sakura, whose face was still flushed with anger. Her eyes were sparkling dangerously and the smudges of dirt on her cheeks only added to the overall image. She looked like some feral goddess, with her tattered uniform and more than tousled pink hair. She was still stabbing him in the chest with her finger and glaring. It occurred to him that no woman had ever _dared_ to yell at him. As infuriating as he knew he could be at times, no woman could ever bring herself to hit back, figuratively. Would he ever meet another woman again who would deal with his crap and not only that, make him deal with her too?

Then again, considering the current situation, he'd be lucky to ever see another human being besides Sakura ever again.

Nevertheless, Sasuke was struck by it. It was then that what he needed to do was confirmed. Simultaneously, Sakura had begun ranting, most likely about how misogynistic he was and blah blah blah. Sasuke smirked, ignored her completely (and probably just proved her point, but whatever) and stepped towards her so that slipping a piece of paper between them would have been work.

Sakura stood stock-still when she realized what was going on. Sasuke's hands were possessively clutching her upper arms and more importantly, he had that look on his face that said he was about to do what he wanted and didn't really have any interest in her opinion. Didn't she _just say_ that he needed to learn a little about respect for personal space—oh, screw it.

But now they were standing there, silent, too close for it to be even remotely normal. Then again, the situation they happened to be in hardly called for anything else to be normal and Sakura found herself smirking at her own life. She was stuck in the middle of the wilderness, inside some random cave most likely infested with rats and god knows what else, her nose probably broken and Sasuke's nose broken as well, and it was looking more and more like her new bodyguard was about to kiss her. At least, he was if he didn't fail again and, you know, break another body part in the process.

One hand slid up her arm to cup her chin and the other to the small of her back. Sakura would have liked to tease him about his aim, but at the moment she found herself speechless. For all of his previous forwardness, he looked completely lost now. Obviously he knew just as much about romance and kissing as she did: _nothing._

He frowned suddenly and a blush spread across his cheeks as he started to retract his hands and turn, but Sakura grabbed him before he could act like a child again and make any kind of getaway.

"Don't ruin things just because you feel helpless." She snapped. Sasuke glared but it was useless. "You don't have to be good at everything. You have a serious superiority complex, you know that? When we get back, you definitely need to see some sort of doc-"

Sasuke laughed coldly. "When we get back? You're kidding, right?"

"...You've given up hope already?" She stared at him in wonder. What a pessimist. But he shook his head, giving her that 'you must be demented or incredibly stupid' look again. She was about to yell at him for that look (it was getting really old) but he cut her off by grabbing her arms again.

"It's not that. It's that I don't even _want_ to go back."

Had it gotten magically warmer in the cave? Maybe she'd just lost the feeling in her body because of the cold.

The sweetness of the statement was almost, but not quite as strange as the obvious sincerity of the statement. Sakura felt her heart warming and she gaped at the enigma before her, slackjawed. Yes, Sasuke was certainly the strangest person she'd ever met.

The next odd sensation was the realization that she didn't want to go back either. What was there for her? She had no true friends and her relationship with her parents was dismal. And her future? Well, she'd always hoped to find someone with whom she 'clicked.' And wasn't that person standing right in front of her, giving her a look that was making her go weak in the knees?

She blinked, feeling a bit like a fish the way she was opening and closing her mouth wordlessly. Finally, she found words. Strung together they probably did make her look either demented or incredibly stupid as Sasuke seemed hell bent on proving.

"Before you... I was alone. And now that we are alone... I'm not..." She whispered. Was this the moment where he'd finally kiss her properly, passionately as people kissed in movies? Her breathing hitched as his lips quivered. She closed her eyes, waiting for the moment that had taken its time to get here--

"Wow, you must be failing your literature class right now if that's the best you could do." He said, laughing. Sakura glared at him as he shook with laughter. But when it died down the silence returned and what Sasuke had said hadn't been forgotten by either of them.

"Can you just kiss me and try not to miss this time?" She asked finally. Sasuke glowered, but his coal eyes showed his true feelings of hesitance. His lips twitched like he was trying not to smile.

"I think I can work something out." He murmured, leaning in slowly. Sakura's slightly more bold inner voice shouted and cheered 'FINALLY!!' as he pressed his lips against hers.

--

"Alright, so this is the route we know the jet was _supposed_ to take. We still don't know if it was flown off course by someone, or if it just hit turbulence and crashed, which is why we have to devise all possible routes here and cover them all." Shikamaru pointed to the map on the kitchen table. Kiba swore.

"Coming up with all those fucking routes will take forever! How the hell are we supposed to do that in time to find them alive?"

"Do not be so hopeless, Kiba! We will cover every possible route and more in just three-"

"Okay, none of your troublesome ideas, Lee." Shikamaru said quickly, holding his hand up. Lee frowned, stung but he remained silent. "Now. I _know_ that this plan is a drag. But it's the only one we've got, at the moment at least."

"Yeah, and we've gotta do whatever we can to find the bastard, right?" Naruto grinned, attempting to bring hope into this more than hopeless situation. His wide smile wavered and he sighed, plunking down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Well shit, if Naruto's feeling discouraged it _must_ be hopeless." Kiba mumbled. Akamaru whimpered, scratching at Shino's boot, earning a look from Shino. Er, rather, his sunglasses.

Just when the awkward silence had settled, the door was thrown open and Neji appeared,

--

"Hey look! A goose-"

"Kisame!! Stop. Shooting. Everything. You. SEE!" Itachi hissed at his violent friend. He narrowed his odd eyes at the man with the shotgun and realized arming Kisame had been the worst idea since Itachi had drowned his cousin that time... Wait, no. That was fun. And well worth the trouble he'd had later of redirecting the cops.

It had already been an incredibly long night. Out here in the bitter cold wilderness it was hard to see _what_ exactly you were shooting at and/or mauling. And hungry Kisame was dangerous and didn't bother much with aiming anyway. If they made it out alive without completely demolishing the forest and everything in it, it would be a miracle on a level akin to Itachi becoming a strip-tease dancer.

"Gah! We're _never_ going to find that stupid brat at this rate. It's literally a shot in the dark!" Kisame growled, dropping down on a log as his stomach rumbled with earthquake-like sound waves. "She's not even hot." He added, tossing a stone up in the air. Itachi sighed and covered his hands with his face.

"That is _not_ the point. The point is that she is incredibly rich, and—_stop that—_will gain me even more power..." Itachi whispered creepily. Kisame stared blankly, putting down his gun.

"You have some sort of complex or something, you know that? You don't even care about politics." He pointed out as he snagged a bunny rabbit hopping by and chomped its head off. Itachi scoffed.

"Yes, but-"

"WHOA! THAT'S-- ...not Sasuke-bastard." Naruto faltered and Itachi and Kisame gawked at the group of people that had just entered their clearing. They smelled horrible, their clothes were torn and ruined—it looked like they'd been wandering for days. "Dammit! You know, this is the fucking wilderness. There aren't supposed to be any other people!" The blond whined, plopping down on a rock. Itachi blinked for a moment, but regained his composure.

"Ah, you are right. What _are_ the chances, hmm? Perhaps you are looking for the same thing we are. My name is -ahem- Madara." Itachi looked back pointedly at Kisame, who missed it completely. Luckily, Naruto cut in before Kisame could blow their cover.

"Nah, probably not. We're looking for my friend Sasuke Uchiha, who is being a total bastard! His plane crashed somewhere around here. We've been looking for _hours!_"

"Yeah, it's been torture. But hey, maybe that chick he's been guarding has survived... hehe..." Kiba leered into the distance until Neji smacked his head with a fallen tree branch. "Ow! But, um... yeah. Who're you guys looking for?"

Itachi smiled. "What a coincidence. We're looking for the girl. Perhaps we can look for them together."

--

"Something about that guy...he just rubs me the wrong way, y'know?" Shikamaru whispered to Shino as they sat around the campfire that night, still seemingly no closer to Sasuke, or Madara's target, Sakura. On the opposite side and secluded, Madara and the creepy guy with the dead-fish eyes sat whispering. Naruto was aggravating Neji by prodding him with a stick, and Kiba was playing with Akamaru. Shino nodded, his sunglasses fixated on Madara.

"I've seen him before." He murmured. Shikamaru twitched.

"What the hell?"

"I could never forget a face like that. I always thought about him because he reminded me of Sasuke. I was working as security for some political function and I saw both of them, there. And if it is the same man... his name is not Madara at all." Shino said darkly. Shikamaru gaped, not only because this was the most he had ever heard Shino speak in his entire twelve years of knowing him, but also because of the obviously disturbing information. Wordlessly, he turned to examine the black haired man across the campfire. He looked too much like Sasuke. It was uncanny and caused the hairs on the back of Shikamaru's neck to prickle.

"Then... who is he?" He whispered as quietly as possible, unable to take his eyes from the man's disturbing dark eyes that seemed to flash red. There was something truly sinister about him.

"Uchiha Itachi. Brother of Sasuke and rumored murderer of the entire Uchiha family."

--

It was frigid in the cave but Sakura almost didn't mind: she was currently curled up in Sasuke's arms in front of a small and somewhat pathetic fire. She could barely keep her eyes open, she was so exhausted. And yet, so content.

Sure, she was starving, dehydrated, filthy, freezing... but she was happy. She had never been happier, perhaps in her entire existence. And she had the feeling Sasuke felt the same way, judging by the way his arms were wrapped quite tightly around her.

"I have such a craving for pineapple right now." She said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"I hate sweet foods. I could go for an espresso right now."

"Ew, really? I love sweets. Like petit fours and pineapple slices and chocolate cake..." She sighed dreamily. "I wonder if I'll ever set foot in a bakery again."

Sasuke tensed. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Calm down. It was an honest question."

"But you must be hungry if you keep talking about food."

"...Well, yeah. But--"

"Let's go find food if you're hungry!" Sasuke jumped up. Sasuke slapped her face.

"It's dark, Sasuke. We have enough trouble getting food in broad daylight, remember?"

Sasuke scowled. "But I can't just sit there with you hungry."

"...Fine. We'll go find food." Sakura said resignedly, following him out of the mouth of the cave. He grabbed her hand and they edged their way down the side of the mountain to the forest below. Sakura looked out over the trees and gasped. "Look!" She grabbed Sasuke's arm and pointed to a spot about half a mile away, glowing as though there were a campfire there. Sasuke's eyes widened and he turned to look at Sakura. She bit her lip. "...Should we?"

The moment hung between them as they stared at each other. Sasuke finally nodded, but Sakura squeezed his hand. "You've got to promise me one thing though." She whispered. Sasuke's expression read: anything. Sakura's voice quavered. "Promise.. we won't be separated. Ever. It's not worth it... without you."

They paused and then held each other tightly for a moment. When they parted, Sasuke nodded. Wordlessly they hurried down the side of the mountain, hand in hand, rushing to salvation.

The trees were a blur as they ran without stopping. Sakura's legs did not even feel fatigue. The glow brightened as they got closer and closer to their destination. They even heard voices, and Sasuke ran faster, realizing he recognized one voice in particular.

The two burst into the clearing and there was silence. Sasuke felt a wave of relief to see all of his old friends; he hadn't realized how much he'd missed them. But when he saw the other part of the group he felt his insides go numb.

"You..." He hissed. Itachi smiled; Sakura put the pieces together and when she realized who this was, she clutched Sasuke's arm, feeling ready to cry. It had to be the one that had ruined Sasuke's life. It just had to be.

"It's the bastard!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and embracing Sasuke overenthusiastically. Sasuke didn't even seem to realize that Naruto was still there. His eyes still rested on Itachi. Naruto faltered. "Um... Hellloooo-"

"Itachi..." Sasuke whispered, his fists trembling. Naruto twitched.

"That's our new friend Madara! He looks just like you, doesn't he-"

"Naruto, you moron..." Shikamaru grumbled as he stood up. His face was sheet white. He turned to Itachi who was still smiling coolly. "Look, we know who you are, and no matter how troublesome, you're _not_ laying one finger on--"

It happened all in a split second. Sakura, Naruto, Shino, Kiba, Neji, and Shikamaru could barely process as Sasuke lunged for Itachi. There was a loud band and suddenly Sasuke lay on the ground, the snow stained red around him. The man with the cold dead fish eyes was putting his gun away and Itachi was advancing on Sakura.

"No!" Naruto cried, reaching for Sakura, but Kisame drew his gun and Naruto was forced to back up. Sakura felt her legs buckling beneath her as she stared dumbly at Sasuke's cold (and probably dead) body. The world went black around her as she fell.

--


	6. Chapter 6

Mayday

Chapter 6

AN: Yeah. I know. Almost 5 months. I am so unbelievably sorry. I worked on this chapter a ton, but it just wasn't any good. And then, randomly, the -right- plot line hit me. So... I hope it's good and makes sense. I have a lot of insecurities about this chapter, but I feel it's the right direction. I'm worried that it seems abrupt, but... whatever.

Please enjoy!

She wasn't sure how it had happened, but now she was in a cave. And it was warm, and she was wrapped in a blanket, and there were voices.

Oh god. She was going crazy, wasn't she?

She opened her eyes and sat up, to find a campfire and men sitting around it, talking in low voices. Sasuke was sitting there too, clutching his arm, which was bandaged.

Her eyes met Sasuke's, and his obsidian eyes widened.

"S-sasuke?! You're all right!" She cried. She attempted to stand, but got stuck on the blanket, and was about to fall—until one of the men, a guy with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, caught her.

"Damn, I knew you'd fall in love with me! Hahaha!" He laughed a little too loudly, but it made Sakura smile nonetheless. Sasuke snatched Sakura from the man's arms.

"Are you okay? What about the bullet?" She whispered, hugging him.

"Eh, we got it out. It was just in his arm, after all. Kind of a drag though." A man with a topknot said with a blasé wave of his hand. Another man with long hair snorted.

"Don't let his laxness fool you. It took forever to get out—luckily we were able to do so before the idiot bled to death." He said waspishly.

"Ignore him, Sakura. The stick up his ass gets uncomfortable sometimes." Naruto confided, whispering loud enough that it made the gesture seem even more ridiculous.

"All of you stop talking and let Sakura REST!" Sasuke ordered, helping Sakura sit down again. Sakura glared.

"Um, I am FINE. Let's talk about you--"

"You've been out for twelve hours, Sakura. I've recovered since then. Everything is going to be fine. The rescue teams are coming to pick us up. The only problem is the snow storm." He pointed out the mouth of the cave. Just seeing it made Sakura shiver.

"But what about those men? What happened?"

A man with sunglasses stepped in.

"After you collapsed, they moved to grab you both, but Neji--" he pointed at the man with the long hair, "--managed to shoot the guns out of their hands and get them away. Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Lee fought them down until they knocked them unconscious. The rest of us carried you back here."

Sakura stared blankly.

"It was SO COOL, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, pumping his fist. Sasuke rolled his eyes, then turned to Sakura, pulling her sneakily into his lap. The blanket obscured the position, and Sakura felt her cheeks flush.

"Rescue teams will arrive shortly. I suggest you get some sleep." Neji warned her. Sakura frowned.

"Why me?" She asked innocently. Sasuke scoffed. She didn't understand that already, all of his friends cared for her. She had that effect, though she didn't seem to know it at all. She'd spent so much of her life without a clue as to how adorable she really was. That alone made her even more adorable. Sasuke furtively pulled her closer.

"Because I have a feeling you're irritating when tired." Neji sneered. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but Naruto cut in with some conversation about some sports team. Sakura relaxed into Sasuke's chest and felt him hold her even tighter. Even if her life had been more than surreal for the past several days... she was happy. Everything would be okay now, and she'd get married to Sasuke, and they'd have a gorgeous wedding, and on their wedding night...

"Heeeyyy... Sakura-chan... why are you blushing like that?"

"Shut up!!"

--

"And now, for our newest and hottest story. Seven months ago, politican Haruno's daughter and her bodyguard were found in the mountains after the crash of Haruno-san's private jet. Rescue teams say that both were alive and well, although Ms. Haruno's bodyguard had sustained a bullet wound, thanks to a previous rescue team—the famous politician Uchiha Itachi. He apparently intended to retrieve the young Haruno and use her to secure Haruno-san's job for himself, but was stopped by a group of the bodyguard's friends. Today, Uchiha Itachi's trial took place. According to inside sources, Uchiha was being tried for multiple offenses, including attempted manslaughter, as well as fraud, and many other smaller offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison, with no option for parole."

"Meh, nothing we didn't already know. I mean, we kinda testified against him and all." Naruto chuckled humorlessly, scratching his head. It had been a more than stressful experience, but Sasuke seemed content with the results.

Naruto tossed the remote at his new flatmate, Sakura. She was curled up on the couch with her boyfriend, who was eating cereal and watching TV with Naruto. Sakura was perusing a newspaper and circling job offers for Naruto.

"I guess. Let's watch the game." Sasuke changed the channel to football, and immediately he and Naruto began cheering wildly and booing and catcalling. It warmed Sakura's heart (even if it was a little bit annoying), and she smiled as she circled another ad.

Within the next hour, the rest of the gang showed up. Bored with football, Shikamaru and Sakura began playing shogi and enjoying the ruckus coming from the living area, where even Shino was bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"NO! YOU IDIOT! THAT'S YOUR OWN GOAL! AHH! THE STUPIDITY!"

Eventually, Shikamaru couldn't hide his love for the sport anymore, and joined the rest of the men in screaming and shouting at the television.

"Oh, shit! I'm going to be late to meet Hinata!" Naruto whined, running out of the living room and into the kitchen to snatch his coat from the closet.

"You are WHIPPED, you idiot!" Kiba called after him.

"You're just jealous." Neji pointed out, beaming over the fact that his little mouse of a cousin was so popular with the guys. Shino was blushing hotly, but no one except for Sakura noticed. Lee called something about chivalry and the loveliness of the light of youth in everyone's eyes, to which everyone responded by booing Lee, similar to how they had booed one of the football players less than a minute ago.

Finally, the game ended, and everyone was gone, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone in the apartment.

Sakura plopped down on the couch next to Sasuke, and they settled into their usual evening routine, with Sakura studying from a medical textbook and Sasuke resting his head on her lap and drifting in and out of sleep. Sasuke couldn't have been more thrilled by the arrangement; ever since Sakura had begun living with him, everything had been going perfectly. She was the missing piece in his life. Certainly, it had taken some convincing of her father to let her live with him, but her grades hadn't dropped and, in fact, it was plain to see that she was _happier._

"Wow, everything is... finished, I guess." Sakura stated. Sasuke grunted semi-meaningfully in reply. "So now, can we live happily ever after?" She teased, putting down the textbook and looking down at her boyfriend, whose eyes were closed.

"You talk too much."

"Well, I was just thinking about it... we literally crashed into each other's lives, didn't we? Such a chaotic beginning, and now all of a sudden, there's peace. It's odd."

Sasuke turned over, facing her stomach and yawning.

"Give it time, and soon, you'll be keeping a framed picture of these days on your nightstand and kissing it." He grumbled. Sakura raised her eyebrows as she stroked his hair.

"And why is that?"

"We live with The Dobe."

"Oh."

"Sakura, your stomach is growling loudly."

"Yeah. It kinda is."

"It's killing the moment."

"A little bit, yeah."

Sasuke looked up at her, and they both burst out laughing.

As Sakura wiped the tears of mirth from her face and enjoyed feeling Sasuke sit up and begin kissing her, it occurred to her that her life was perfect.

--

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Sweet Bliss, Claire, Hiei's Cute Girl, KeraQ, Kakashi500, pinky101, Ayane Selznick, mal-deviant, brightfairy8, Neji Uchiha, and everyone else who reviewed! Your reviews kept me going, that's for sure.

One more thing: Do I make an epilogue? Let me know.


End file.
